Records Fall at Multiple Meets in Friday Track and Field Action
Bucknell Bison Outdoor Classic Results
Tiffin, Ohio & Lewisburg, Pa. – The University of Findlay men's and women's track and field teams were in two locations on Friday, April 15 with the majority of the team competing in Tiffin, Ohio at the Tiffin Track Carnival while one athlete competed in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania at the Bucknell Bison Outdoor Classic.
The only athlete competing at Bucknell on Friday was senior Hannah Thompson who continued to rewrite the record books, breaking her own school record in the 5000m run with an NCAA provisional time of 16:26.76. Thompson took runner-up in the event behind Alexa Leppelmeier from Walsh and now owns the fifth-best time in Division II this season. That run breaks her previous record in the event (16:54.72) by almost 30 seconds.
Women (Ranked 24th in Division II)
In Tiffin, sophomore Kylie Ray added to what has been a solid season, setting a new personal-best in the 100m hurdles. She finished third in the event with a time of 14.54. Later in the evening, she took on the 400m hurdles where she met the NCAA provisional mark with a time of 1:01.83, placing her in second and giving her a personal-best and a top-20 time in the country this season.
Senior Michaela Butler set a season-best in the 100m dash, completing the race in 12.05 seconds which was good enough for fourth. In the 200m dash, sophomore Jordan Taylor also set a season-best mark, taking sixth with a 25.41.
In the high jump, junior Alexa Fries cleared a height of 1.63m (5' 4.25") which was good for fifth and is a season-best, coming up short of her career PR by .01m.
Continuing to push the bar higher and higher, senior Savannah Amato bested her own school record in the pole vault on Friday when, on her third attempt at the height, she cleared 4.25m (13'11.25") to take first place. That height is the best in Division II this season by three inches, ranks 12th in the country, regardless of division (including NCAA Division I and NCAA Division III), and makes her just the ninth athlete in Divsion II history to clear at least 4.25m. Tonight's effort certainly sends a message to other pole vaulters across the country that Amato will be a serious contender at the national meet in a little over a month. The squad was not done there, however, as the Oilers would take places two through four, as well. Junior Morgan England set a new outdoor career-best in the event, taking runner-up with a height of 4.15m (13'7.25") while junior Lindsey Kluesener was third with a season-best jump of 3.95m (12'11.50"). Senior Meadow Cromer also cleared 3.95m to take fourth. Findlay now owns four of the top 15 jumps in the country this season.
Picking up a season-best in the long jump was junior Simone Green who finished sixth after reaching a distance of 5.50m (18'0.50") on her third attempt. Sophomore Madison Myers was close behind, taking eighth with a 5.26m (17'3.25") jump.
In triple jump, freshman Morgan Allman finished seventh as her first attempt of the night was her best, measuring 10.05m (32'11.75").
Freshman Trista Fintel was seventh in the shot put with a throw of 13.30m (43'7.75") and also took seventh in the discus as her third attempt was her best, measuring 45.23m (148'4.00"). Later she rounded out the throws, competing in the hammer throw and securing 11th with a 48.64m (159'8") toss.
Men
Earning a first place finish in the 3000m steeplechase on Friday was senior Nick DeHaven who cruised to a time of 9:38.11, seven seconds ahead of the runner-up. It was the first time this season that he had competed in the steeplechase, an event that the Oilers have rarely competed in in recent years.
Earning a provisional mark on Friday was freshman Payton Shakur who, in the high jump, soared to a height of 2.05 (6' 8.75"), a personal-best in outdoor. He cleared the bar on his second attempt at that height while the event winner did so on his first attempt. Both athletes failed at 2.08m. Shakur also took part in the long jump where he reached a distance of 6.75m (22'1.75") to finish seventh. Also competing in the high jump event was junior Cameron Stine who finished in fifth by clearing 2.00m (6' 6.75"), a season-best.
Also meeting an NCAA provisional on Friday was senior Gabe Makin who competed in the pole vault. Makin cleared a career-best 5.02m (16' 5.25") to finish runner-up in the event. Freshman Zane Rohrbacher took fourth by clearing 4.37m (14' 4.00").
Another win for the Oilers came in the long jump where sophomore Eliot Cummings took first place, using his sixth and final attempt to reach a distance to 7.17m (23' 6.25"), a season-best. Freshman Chris Campbell took fourth with a 6.88m (22'7.00"), a season-best. Cummings also competed in the triple jump and finished fifth with a jump that measured 13.88m (45'6.5"), a season-best.
Graduate senior and one of the most decorated athletes in program history, Austin Combs is competing in his final semester for the Oilers. The reigning national champion in the weight throw took runner-up on Friday in his signature outdoor event. Combs' final throw measured 67.00m (219'9"), easily surpassing the NCAA provisional. Combs remains second in the country in the event. The Findlay native also took part in the discus where he took fifth with a throw of 49.48m (162'4.00"). Sophomore Hunter Tresnan-Rieghard was close behind in that event, taking sixth with a 49.44m (162'2.00").
Junior Josh Verhoff competed in the 100m dash and put together the fastest time in the event this season for the Oilers, completing the race in 10.76 seconds and finishing in ninth.
In the 200m dash, senior Ethan Pensante took seventh, finishing in seventh with a season-best time of 21.99 seconds. Later in the 400m, freshman Dylan Reason also took seventh, finishing the race in 49.89 seconds.
Sophomore Gabriel Foster took fifth place in the 800m with the team's fastest time of the year, a 1:54.13 that was good for fifth.
Competition in Tiffin will be completed tomorrow, April 16.